Child Underperforms Because Tested Above Cognitive Level
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Chenonceau:
It cannot be the parents' fault alone when no one is putting a gun to MOE's head to say \"Test beyond the cognitive level or else...\" In fact, again and again, in parliament and in this forum, so many are saying... Don't test beyond cognitive levels... so our kids can have a normal childhood.Irene Tham's article in the Straits Times today got me thinking about the practice in schools of testing beyond the current year syllabus. I understood from the article that...
It's The Parent's Fault
Parents who send kids to enrichment FORCE Teachers to test at ever higher levels.
No one is FORCING MOE to test high. I am in effect trying to lobby MOE to test reasonably and to NOT follow the bar set by enriched kids. -
deminc:
btw, before the child fails, there are already a lot of \"history\" to dig through and red flags. The failing would not have come as a surprise. To worry or not depends on whether the child has been properly taught.
Not everyone has a Mother like you, who will, when the time comes have the time and wisdom to pick up these alerts.deminc:
The choice of school does matter. Neighbourhood schools will do more teaching to help a child who enters school without being able to read or write. If you have a late-bloomer, or if you didn't prepare your child for P1, it's better to opt for a neighbourhood school and ask around to get a recommended patient teacher to work with him in class.
Chongfu and Qihua are neighbourhood schools that provide excellent resources to help their kids. My son's neighbourhood school does not. On the other hand Nanyang and Catholic High have lovely materials and they are not neighbourhood schools. -
Chenonceau:
Chenonceau, I WAS riled up when I read that in the report - although the writer attributed that idea (ie Parents who send kids to enrichment FORCE Teachers to test at ever higher levels) to \"psychologists\". [ How come she didn’t interview you ?? I would have loved to see your views in mainstream media.Irene Tham's article in the Straits Times today got me thinking about the practice in schools of testing beyond the current year syllabus. I understood from the article that...
It's The Parent's Fault
Parents who send kids to enrichment FORCE Teachers to test at ever higher levels.
....
Would you, or won't you worry if your child were pulling in FAIL grades in P2 for any subject, as was reported in the article?
She made it sound like it was an “accepted stance of psychologists” :mad: lending it a semblance of credence.]
I'm not sure anyone can pinpoint with certainty which was the chicken and which was the egg, but I did start off in the system well content to let the teachers/textbooks do the teaching. My kids are obedient and diligent, they did their homework , they did what they were told [both by teachers and parents]-- I really did see my job in their learning journey as cuddling up to read together and boiling chicken soup during exam week! It was a painful landing for me when I realised the gap between taught and tested was significant.
DD1 in P2 could not do \"stack up sums\" in her first term when everyone else in her class could. Was she dumber than the rest? Not in my opinion, even though she is a late December kid. After she was seen struggling, she was called up to the teacher's desk and the first question she was asked was \" Do you have tuition for math\"? Why this was the teacher's first response baffles me to this day but my DD1 stood for an hour next to her teacher to learn how to do stack up addition. I did not learn of this from DD1 - bless her little soul -- she never complained; a mum pulled me aside at a birthday party both our girls attended and asked if I knew my daughter was struggling. Can you imagine how it broke my heart?
I started getting more information and while the teachers were lovely and caring in other aspects of school, it was obvious to me that (a) my girls could not bridge the gap on their own and (b) no one else was picking up this role for various reasons - so I took a deep breath and jumped in. Did whatever it took cos I knew the genetic pool wasn't bad but left on their own in the system, they would be lagging and that did not reflect their potential.
To answer your question - would I be worried if any of my DDs had failed any subject in P2? Honestly, yes - failing is a bit away from \"not doing well\". Anyway, we come from what forumners have classified as an \"easy exam paper\" school, so it would definitely raise some alarm bells because the testing at higher cognitive levels should have resulted in a poorer grade like one in the 60s but not a fail mark based on my assessment of my DDs.
In life, what is the PSLE grade? Nothing much-- we do not look at this score in our organisation when we employ, but we are well aware of the university bell curve results for our industry and where 50%+ of the yearly cohort take home an upper degree [another symptom of marking to the curve, not necessarily better quality IMHO], we do use the second upper as a policy for the granting of interviews. After you're in through the door though, everything depends on your performance. The slate is wiped clean and how you deal with everything on the job is what counts. We have had top 1% students flunking out on the job and others with less stellar grades powering to the top.
So for some who wish to make getting that foot into the door easier for their kids, they would probably think to push the kids to meet the mark which has been raised high by person or persons unknown and they would be worried - very worried.
There still exists other options -- since nothing is cast in stone -- but society can be very unkind and both parents and kids need to be resilient in the face of nay-sayers in the society.
The final decision to worry/to push or not, should however be child-centric - who the blessed bundle of joy that is your child is and what works best for them.
I also beg to differ with the ST writer’s take about what the education system sets out to do; she said that it was \"to impart the joy of learning\". I think she is very young.... After 8 years in it for my 2DDs, the kindest I can be is to say that we didn’t see this as an obvious aim as it was delivered to us. :sad: -
:siam:
IMHO,our education system is geting tougher and tougher cos we concerned/kiasu parents prepared well for the level.cos we wanted our child to survive in the school.Then all the kids do well then they set the paper harder.Its a vicious cycle.As Asians we care our family than individual.In Singapore most of the parents are educated.
In the Dec holiday I taught systems to my son.When the T started to teach system almost all the kids learnt already.T said bring the Interaction to Teach.
:siam: -
psle2011mum:
:hi5: agree with u, psle2011mum, esp the part on resilience. Apart from teaching the right values to our children, we also need to cultivate mental strength as well.
......
There still exists other options -- since nothing is cast in stone -- but society can be very unkind and both parents and kids need to be resilient in the face of nay-sayers in the society.
The final decision to worry/to push or not, should however be child-centric - who the blessed bundle of joy that is your child is and what works best for them.
The recent episode where 2 promising young ladies committed suicide made me feel very sad. Makes me wonder what is going on in their lives and what is going through their minds when they did the deed. Life is really more than just getting As, and yet society sometimes measure us by how many As we get in sch. -
When the SYSTEM reinforces the actions of parents who enrich by testing to the abilities of enriched kids and thus, giving these enriched kids the top scores... the SYSTEM feeds/reinforces the enrichment frenzy. It is as simple as training a dog to use the pee tray by reinforcing his behavior with a treat.
Stop reinforcing these behaviors and much of it will disappear.
The diehards of enrichment who believe in pushing ahead, can then set up a private school and all go there so their kids can all do nothing academics, but mainstream schools for the populace should stay sane... and provide children with an environment where they can learn that they have worth (without parents at home having to keep affirming them daily... in order to balance out the experiences of failure in school). Because simply, not many parents have the kind of time I have. -
Chenonceau:
When the SYSTEM reinforces the actions of parents who enrich by testing to the abilities of enriched kids and thus, giving these enriched kids the top scores... the SYSTEM feeds/reinforces the enrichment frenzy. It is as simple as training a dog to use the pee tray by reinforcing his behavior with a treat.
:goodpost: Chen. Totally agree with you on this.
It becomes a vicious cycle when parents, schools, society perpetuate this frenzy. And the irony is that the ones whom we think we are trying to help are the little ones who suffer in the process.
Parents put their kids in tuition or enrichment centers because they don't want their kids to lose out to their peers or fall too much behind.
Schools/ teachers become over zealous in their testing methods and teaching curriculum coz they feel that they must be one-up over their competitors. And if schools don't perform according to parents \"standards\", parents complain.Chenonceau:
Think this one very hard to achieve lehStop reinforcing these behaviors and much of it will disappear.
:gloomy: Takes more than just a mindset change to shift behavior and societal expectations.
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I recall when dd1 was 4 and during PTA, the teacher commented that she had \"poor\" computer literacy skills.
Dh and I were like :yikes: . She's only 4. :nailbite:
Teacher: yes, but the other kids are very good with the PC. They know how to use the mouse and on/off the PC
Me: But she's only 4! :shock:
Teacher: I know, but she needs to know how to use the PC. Have u introduced her to the computer?
Me: No. I rather she reads, finger paints, play with play doh and engage in imaginative play.
Teacher: Think it's about time she learns the computer. Otherwise, she will lose out to her friends.
Me : But she's only 4!! :lightrod: :faint:
.... and fast forward 10 years later.
dd1 has learned to use the computer, not when she was 4 but in good time. On her own time and pace. In fact, think her computer literacy skills surpasses mine now
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smartmummy, beanbear & psle2011mum… you have PM.
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This is vicious cycle. No single system or an entity is at fault, rather it is the entire system at fault.
Teachers can’t finish the syllabus because lack of time. Sometime material insuffice. Or worse teachers not trained for that subject are tasked to teach.
During PTA, teachers told parents to be involve. Most times advised parents to bring their child for tuition.
Teachers pass the baton to parents
In a frenzy mode, parents send their children to tuition centers.
Tuition centers competing for reputation. All teach way in advance of the syllabus.
Now isn’t this the fault of the entire system or what?
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